


A Fresh Start, and a Fresh Hell

by SouthDoom



Category: Original Work
Genre: Age Regression, F/F, F/M, Gender or Sex Swap, How Do I Tag, I'm Australian, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Including the one at her cafe, Lennon is a teacher aide, Lennon is overprotective as all hell, Lennon kicks ass, M/M, Marcus didn't listen, Maria gets amnesia about Marcus' life, Maria has PTSD, Rita a little less so, Rita puts every drawing Maria makes on the fridge, SO MUCH FLUFF, Some bad shit happened, The beginning isn't that great, There is swearing, There will be fluff, When she wants to, and some angst, but after it I swear, but not for Maria's innocent ears to hear, cause trauma sucks, don't do drugs kids, so expect "colour" not "color", that's a hell of a drug, the cafe is also a bookstore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-11-28 09:31:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11415087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouthDoom/pseuds/SouthDoom
Summary: Marcus, whilst drunk, takes a mystery drug that "lets you start anew." After nothing happens, he sends his friends to their homes and goes to sleep. He wakes up to see a 6 year old girl in the mirror instead of a 22 year old man. Some shit happens, but that's spoilers ;)





	1. And so it begins

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, this is my first story on this site. Feel free to give criticism in the comments. I don't write pr0n, but it's implied here.
> 
> Hope you enjoy

I'm starting to wonder why I agreed to this. It could be the fact that I'm almost blackout drunk. Just maybe.  
"Ssso, we all agree to do truth or- shokay" The two of us, myself and Stewart, sound our agreement before Scott gets to finish the question "alright then, so this ish how it's gonna work, you'll be ashed truth or dare, if you choose dare, you gotta take one of the drugs on the table that you're dared to take. Truth is still truth, oblivosy." Did he mean obviously? Whatever.

So we begin the game, going round in a continuous circle as the set of drugs on the table gets smaller and smaller. I stick to truth like glue, not wanting anything added to the amount of alcohol currently in my system. I don't know how, but the two of them somehow manage to stay awake whilst being under the effect of multiple drugs and alchohol. I manage to nearly hold out until the end, but break When there's only one drug left. There's one pill left, some sort of mystery drug that "lets you start anew" or something. So in a brilliant moment of thought, I manage to slur out 'dare' and immediately pick up the pill that I had been eyeballing hesitantly.  
"Come on maaan, it's the laszt one. You're not gonna be a wiiiimp are you?" Questions a slurred voice I identified as Stewart. Now, I am definitely not a wimp. I might be an idiot. I just might. But I'm definitely not a wimp. I swallow the pill and wait. After ten minutes of nothing happening I declare the party over and send each of them back to their homes before I proceed to pass out on my bed. 

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Ugh, stupid alarm clock. Doesn't it realise that it's the weekend and there's about five extra hours of sleep I could be getting?

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Apparently not. Begrudgingly, I move to silence the alarm clock and find that it seems to be further away from me than usual. After finally stopping the horrible screeching emanating from the alarm clock, I decide to remain on the bed in order to let my migraine lessen a bit. After five minutes of contemplating whether it was worth going back to sleep or not, I come to the decision that before anything I need something for this migraine. So the first course of action was to get some pain killers for my splitting migraine. Not wanting any bright lights at the moment, I slowly feel my way to the bathroom, stumbling a little here and there. I finally reach the bathroom, albeit a little clumsily, and move to the sink. Unfortunately, I would have to open my eyes to see where the medication was and resented the thought of my migraine getting worse. After some moments of contemplation I open them and and wince as my eyes adjust to the dim light of the room. As I look to the mirror I'm greeted with the reflection of a blonde haired 6 year old with blue eyes following my every move. I, thinking rationally, proceeded to calmly evaluate whatever the hell was happ-  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA" screamed an unfamiliar, high pitched voice that was somehow mine. After calming down from my small panic attack, I came to the conclusion that this was some weird fever dream from whatever the hell was in that pill I took last night. I was mulling over what changes would occur due to my new body when my stomach decided that I was to continue my morning as normally as I could. I managed to have a shower and dressed myself in the biggest sweater i owned as it now went down to my knees. I waddled over to the kitchen, my stomach declaring that I was about to starve to death and decided to make scrambled eggs for breakfast, only to find my fridge bare. The only remains being a container of margarine and a half eaten, rotten apple. Figures, I had all my friends over, of course the fridge is empty. That means I have to go buy eggs and milk, which wasn't really a problem when I was an adult. However, since I looked six, I'll have to walk to the local market instead of driving to the supermarket in the centre of town. Not wanting to prolong the inevitable, I grab fifty dollars from my wallet, slip on a pair of thongs that are way to big, and went on my not so merry way. 

As I walk into the marketplace, I see myself acting more like a child than an adult, staring at the assortments of stuffed toys and lollies with a strong feeling of want. On my way to the dairy section of the store I walked past an adorable stuffed bear and felt an odd urge to hug the stuffing out of hi- it, I meant it. I returned to my quest for milk with a soft addition to my shopping bag. When I finally reached the dairy section I was met with a new problem, my height. Man I'm short, I can't even reach the milk I wanted. Thankfully there was worker nearby who saw my struggle. I don't know whether he's helping me out of kindness or pity, but I don't really care which it is, as long as I get my milk. However I can tell he's barely stopping himself from laughing.  
"I see you're having some problems," he says, snickering the whole time. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. "Here let me get that for you. Which one do you want?" At least the snickering is replaced with a soft smile not. I don't know how comfortable I am with my voice yet, so I point at the one I want, hoping he would seeing which one I wanted. "Sorry, but which one is that?" Just my luck.  
"The, um, the y-yellow cap, p-please" I stutter out, remembering my manners. The clerk's smile widens a bit as he grabs the small bottle of milk. I utter a quiet thank you and quickly move towards the fresh produce section. Thankfully, the eggs are on the lower shelves as well as the top shelves and I'm able to get the eggs without the clerk's help again. On my way to the cashier, two bags of gummy worms and a chocolate bar mysteriously make there way into my shopping bag. The only time I let go of Gazlowe was when I gave him to the cashier. Feeling satisfied, I began my walk back home, shopping in one hand and Gazlowe's soft brown fur in the other. As I was nearing the corner to the street my house was on, I was suddenly pulled into an alleyway and shoved into a van. As my brain was still catching up with what was happening, I felt a damp tissue pushed onto my face and proceeded to pass out with a death grip on Gazlowe.

-Some time later-

I slowly wake up to the sound of a car engine and the smell of stuffing. I didn't know where I was, and the thought of being somewhere unknown filled me with fear. I found an odd, calming feeling when I realised I still had Gazlowe. As my eyes adjusted, I could make out a tall stranger sitting next to me, staring at me, but I don't know why. After he notices I'm awake, I hear him whisper to the driver and feel the van slowing down. As the van slows I feel as if I know what's going to happen next, but can't quite place what's going to happen. When the van stops the driver steps out as the taller man next to me begins lowering the seats to make a flat surface. That's when I was pushed on top of the surface by the driver as he yanks Gazlowe away from me and onto the floor of the van. I don't know why, but as Gazlowe is taken, I feel my eyes begin to water and my vision blur from unshed tears. However, before my tears could spill, I see the men start to unbuckle their pants and a feeling of dread catches in my throat as I realise what's about to happen to me.

-Half an hour later-

They finally left, gone to the toilet or something, I don't care, as long as the pain stops. After retrieving Gazlowe from the floor of the van and clutching him like my life depends on it, I continued crying, even though I should be out of tears. After about five minutes of quiet sobbing, A feeling of exhaustion creeps over me, and my eyelids begin to droop. That is until I hear a loud crack outside of the van, followed by thump and a high pitched scream. I'm shocked out of my exhaustion and start shaking with fear from whatever happened outside. As a figure approaches the van I somehow clutch Gazlowe tighter and crawl into the back corner of the van. As the door opens it reveals a tall woman with glasses that has a look of horror upon seeing me. The relief that washes over me when it is neither of those men doubles the exhaustion I felt before and I finally collapse, hugging Gazlowe tighter than ever


	2. Crackdown of the Century

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maria's sleeping, so we get a different perspective in this chapter. I'll probably be swapping between pespectives quite a bit, so expect that. I'll say who's POV it is at the beginning of the chapter. 
> 
> We get to be in the mind of Lennon today, how exciting.

You know, I never thought I would be this desperate for three o'clock to arrive. I'd say I'm as antsy as some of the third graders in the room. Lucky for them, they've got Ms. Keltrei as their teacher, she's the best at entertaining them throughout the whole day, I think most of the students don't even realise what time it is. Hell, Ms Keltrei is even making history/geography entertaining.  
"So, as you can see, there are seven continents around the world. Can anyone name them all?" A swarm of hands immediately shoot into the air, I swear I hear some bones crack. Before Ms. Keltrei can choose a student, there's the telltale ring of a bell that makes the students shoot up along with their hands. As I dodge the tidal wave of children I hear Ms Keltrei's voice overpower the children's conversations. "Don't forget, homework is due tomorrow! Detentions if you don't bring it!" It might've been my imagination, but it almost looked like the third graders started moving faster after that announcement. "*sigh*, what am I going to do with them all?" I saw her eyes droop a little as she made her way back to her desk.  
"I don't know, but some more sleep might help," I suggest. "Sleep is required for clear thought and I think you were working on those homework sheets for too long last night."  
"How do you always know these things Lennon? It amazes me," states the now muffled voice ofMs. Keltrei, as she is now facedown on her desk. "I have to keep those homework sheets up to date, otherwise nothing will sink in." I thought on that as I cleared up the bookshelf in the back of the room.  
"You know, I could make the homework sheets, maybe some other things, even out the workload a bit." I say as soon as the thought crosse my mind. "Keeping your wellbeing up is more important than some worksheets."  
"I think it's official Lennon." Ms. Keltrei's still muffled voice says  
"What is?"  
"You're the best teacher aide a woman could ask for" she states matter-of-factly  
"Uh, thanks, I guess, " I take a quick glance at the clock and see the time. "Do you mind if I head off now? I had some things planned tonight."  
"Sure honey, I'll clean the rest of this up, go enjoy your night."  
"Thanks Brenda, I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Bye Lennon."  
Finally, I can relax. As much as I love those kids, they really put you through the wringer. Now I can go set up my telescope for the meteor shower tonight at 6:27 and I'm not missing it for anything. Period. I've already got everything in the car, i even packed a sleeping bag just in case. All I have to do is find somewhere nice and open to set all my gear up. I had a couple ideas of where to go. I couldn't go to my normal spot as that would be swarmed with other people wanting to see the shower. So I decided to drive around the foot of Mt. Elton because, if I remembered correctly, there were some flat, open areas near the forests surrounding the mountain.

After driving around the foot of the mountain for about two and a half hours I find an open field just next to the dirt road leading into Elton forest. Rita had called me earlier to ask me where I was, she can really be a worry wart sometimes. I let her know about the meteor shower and she immediately knew what was going through my mind and hung up with a simple 'have fun'. So I set up my gear and waited, as there was another thirty minutes before the shower would start. I occupied myself with one of Rita's many sudoku books. Rita was terrible at sudoku, I don't know how you can love a puzzle that you're horrible at completing, but to each their own. Twenty minutes into the book, and seven completed sudoku later, I see a white van travel towards me on the dirt road. Now if the van had turned to travel the field or stopped that would have clearly explained why it was here, as this was a great spot to see the meteor shower from. But it didn't, it continued into the forest. I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but I left them to their business. After another five minutes of sudoku I put the book away and returned my attention to my telescope, admiring the stars before the shower began. The meteor shower was supposed to be the largest one in a century and even that didn't quite fit the description. In a word, it was breathtaking. Multiple white and blue streaks lighting up the sky. Words couldn't describe the childlike joy I was feeling. The serenity of the night was ruined by a child's scream that came from the forest. As soon as I heard it I went to my purse and grabbed my self defence items: pepper spray, a sound 'grenade', that sort of stuff. I also got the wooden case of my telescope, looking a little like a baseball bat, and headed into the forest in order to defend this child. The police were about half an hour away from the forest, so I reasoned that I would have to deal with the situation before the child I had heard injured them self, or worse. 

After thirty minutes of trekking up the dirt road, I saw a faint light in the distance and remembered the van that passed through earlier. I picked up the pace, hoping the child was okay when I heard liquid hitting the ground and two male voices.  
"She's a real doll isn't she? A good, fucking find," I slowed down and quietly made my way towards both of the voices, confused as to what they were talking about  
"Yeah, definitely. Fucking hell man, I won't have sex like this for a while." After hearing the second man's statement a feeling of dread formed in my stomach. I was hoping they weren't talking about the child I had heard earlier, but I could only assume the worst. I made my way to one of the men and lifted my telescope case in order to strike him.

"CRACK" 

I may have broken my telescope case, but it was worth it, as the guy was out cold.  
"Wha- you bitch!" The other man charged at me and, thinking fast, I lifted the pepper spray and let loose. "Augh! You-" He never got to finish his sentence, as my foot made a connection to his balls, silencing him as he fell to the ground, also out cold. As I caught my breath I surveyed the situation. After a minute, I moved towards the van and heard a small shuffling sound inside. Bringing up all my courage, I opened the van door, not ready for the scene in front of me. As I looked inside, the only thing inside was a naked little girl, maybe six years old at most. She was bruised all over and tears were running down her face and onto the stuffed bear she was wrapped around. The anger I felt at the two men somehow multiplied, and I was barely able to hold down the vomit that threatened to spill. The girl looked at me with so much relief it was palpable and then passed out. Rushing to her side I wrapped her up in my jacket and looked towards the men with a rage that was only calmed when I thought about the hell they would go through in prison. 

After securing the child in my jacket, I reached for my phone and called the police, not quite knowing how to describe the situation.  
"This is the police, what's your emergency?" Said a male voice.  
"This is Lennon Shauternbury. I found two men who both raped a child. Both of the men are currently unconscious and the child is asleep." I relayed all the basic information to the officer on the phone  
"Ah, shit. Where are you now? We'll send some officers to apprehend the men."  
"I'm in Elton forest, next to the dirt road that goes into the forest."  
"Alright, wait there, some officers are en route" with that the officer hung up, and I gave a huge sigh of relief. After ten minutes of watching the child sleep and monitoring the unconscious men, I saw the blue and red of a police car's siren coming towards us. As the two cars pull up, the two police officers step out and proceed to stare at me, then the child sleeping in my arms, the two men on the ground and then me again. One of the officers went to cuff the two men whilst the other walked towards me.  
"Hey there, Lennon Shauternbury right?" I nodded at the obvious, "I'm officer Welheim and I've got to say, you really did a number on these two jerks, good job."  
"Thanks, but shouldn't we be worrying about this girl, not admiring how badass I am." I felt a little joy in being complemented by a police officer, but was more worried about the girl in my arms.  
"Of course, if you'll accompany me in my car, my partner over there will take those two."  
"Sure, lead the way." As we walked past the two men on the ground I spat on them, making my point clear. After getting into the police car, which was surprisingly comfortable, the trip back to the station was silent, save for a few questions asked by the police officer. As we pulled up next to the station, the officer asked me something I would've expected him to ask way earlier.  
"I have to ask, what did you use to knock out the first guy? You said you hit him in the back of his head, but with what?"  
"I used my telescope case. I was at the field outside Elton forest in order to get a clear view of the meteor shower."  
"That was tonight? Damn, I wanted to see that, how was it?" This is what flipped the switch. I talked to the police officer for ten minutes, going on and on about everything and anything 'space'. This was interrupted when I had to go in for questioning. As I walked out of the interrogation room, I was tackled by a small, flying object.  
"What the hell Lennon? What were you doing?" Screamed an all to familiar voice.  
"Rita it's fine, I'm not injured. In fact you should be worried about the two assholes in there." Rita looked at me for a moment before falling to the ground laughing. Apparently the thought of a teacher aide beating the shit out of two men was hilarious to her. The officer from before walked over and stared at Rita on the ground, a look of disbelief on his face.  
"Rita? When did you get here?" Rita responded by raising five fingers from her position on the floor. With an audible sigh, the officer turned to me and asked "How do you know Rita?"  
"Uh, um..." I was at a loss for words as my cheeks reddened a little.  
"She's my girlfriend Scott, leave 'er alone" Rita managed to spit out between giggles.  
"Really?" Scott looked at me for a second before muttering "nice," I flushed before he continued "anyway, I came over to tell you that the girl you saved is in the hospital, she was bruised up quite badly." I immediately felt worried about the poor girl while Rita looked at the two of us quizzically. Clearly she hadn't been told exactly what happened.  
"Oh no, can we see her?"  
"Course you can, got the paperwork right her-" as he waved up the documents I grabbed them and ran out of the station with Rita in tow.  
"See ya Scott," Rita said lazily as we left a stunned Scott in the station. I was glad when I remembered that the officers brought my car back from the foot of the mountain and bolted straight for it. I jumped into the driver's seat as Rita moved to the passenger side. I set off at record speed in the direction of the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine the sounds Lennon makes during the car trip to the hospital can only be described as 'DISTRESSED PARENTAL NOISES'.  
> waitaminutethatsspoilers  
> Anyway, here's the two chapters. I'll be working on the third one throughout the weeks to come, hopefully.


	3. Doctor! Doctor! I can't feel my legs!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I amputated your arms.  
> Jokes aside, we're in the hospital now, yay. Is that amnesia I see? Oh boy.

We were at the hospital in record time and I was out of the car before Rita managed to get her seatbelt off. Of course, I had to wait for Rita, as we only had one copy of the documents.   
"ComeonRitaweneedtohurry." I was practically dragging Rita through the car park and my brain was going into overdrive.  
"You need to calm down Lennon, people aren't able to understand you," Rita said with a sigh, as I didn't slow down, "You're gonna scare the kid half to death if you're like this." With that sentence Rita managed to get it through my thick skull that I should calm down.  
"You're right, just can't help but worry,"  
"You know, the parents are probably shower you with a million hugs," I snorted at that  
"Yeah, they'll only be breaking the person who saved their kid," We were both a little giggly as we headed to the front desk. "Hello, we're here to see a girl who should've come in a while ago, she's, uh... it doesn't say her name" I was confused at that, wouldn't the hospital have some records?  
"Oh, she's being looked after by Dr. Tayn, they're in room 11, down the hall on your right." the receptionist replied after giving my documents a quick look.  
"Thanks, enjoy the rest of your night." I was already moving towards the hall by the time she finished the sentence. As Rita and I approached the door, I was feeling a little anxious about meeting the girl and her parents.  
"Hey, you'll be fine. You're gonna be that girl's hero, you know," I did know that, but I still couldn't help but be a little nervous. Pushing it down, I opened the door to see a room devoid of people, excluding the girl, which was lying in a medical bed, and the female doctor looking after her. As I entered the room, the doctor turned towards me with a relieved look on her face.  
"Oh, hi there, I'm Doctor Lisa Tayn. Are you two the parents of this poor girl?" At that statement I didn't know what I was more surprised at; the fact the doctor though Rita and I were her parents or that her real parents hadn't shown up. Before I could speak up, Rita decided to do so for me.  
"No, we're not. I'm Rita and this is Lennon, the person who saved the girl" the doctor looked towards me, admiration gracing her features, as Rita continued, "Her parents haven't come yet?"   
"No, they haven't. For whatever reason we haven't got any records of the girl's parents or even the girl. We don't even know her name, it's like she popped up from nowhere." That was an unsettling thought. "Until she wakes up, we won't know who she is or who her parents are. However, we've got a photo of her and we're going to see if we can find anyone who recognises the child."   
"That's horrible." I blurted out as sooner as she had finished the sentence.  
"Yeah, it's not the best situation, but I'm sure she'll be able to get through it." she looked at the girl before turning back to me, "So you're the one who beat the snot out of her attackers. I must say, you're lucky you stopped them when you did. The girl's left arm has two fractures and some of her ribs are bruised." Glancing at the girl again, I finally noticed the cast on her left arm, and thought back to the men and what hell I wanted to put them through. It also looked like something was missing, but I couldn't place what it was. "From what I read on the medical reports on the two men, one of their testicles popped. Nice shot by the way." I gained a little satisfaction at that. "Anyway, visiting hours are meant to finish at nine, but for something like this I'll make an exception. You should be here when she wakes up, she'll need someone she can trust if her parents aren't here." The thought that her parents weren't here was shocking, and some horrible thoughts went through my mind about what could've happened. Before I could spiral down into depression, I realised what was missing.   
"Hey, where's her bear? She was clutching it like a lifeline when I found her." The doctor looked over to me with surprise before reaching over to the other side of the bed, coming back up with said missing bear.  
"Don't worry, it's right here." I gave a sigh of relief and took the toy off of the doctor. "I'll be right back, I'm going to write up some documents that will allow you to stay past visiting hours." She left with a wave and the room stayed in silence. After a few moments I heard Rita shuffle towards the other side of the bed. Rita gave the girl a tender look as she took the seat the doctor was using.  
"She's cute, isn't she?" I said, without really thinking  
"Yeah," Rita sighed, "its hard to imagine something bad happening to her." and truly, it was. The girl's face was so innocent anyone would forgive her for anything. Doctor Tayn returned with the papers and retired for the night. She was staying at the hospital so she could help the girl when she woke up, but for now, she needed some sleep. The time flew by, the only sounds in the room being the girl's soft breathing and the occasional scribble of a pencil. That would be Rita's horrible sudoku skills. Besides that, the room held a certain calmness to it, a fragile peace that could break at any moment. I was starting to nod off at the edge of the bed, sleep threatening to take over until I heard a quiet whimper. I lifted my head to see a frown on the girl's face as she rocked about in the bed. I looked over to Rita, who had fallen asleep with her face in the sudoku book. I moved to comfort the girl from whatever nightmare she was having but as soon as I touched her, the whimpering grew louder. Of course, she was just molested by two men, she would be sensitive to touch. I reached over to her bear and placed it into her good arm, all the while whispering in a soothing voice.  
"Sh, shh. It's okay. You're okay now. They can't hurt you anymore, sh sh sh, it's okay," slowly but surely the girl calmed down, with an iron grip on the stuffed bear. That only took, ten minutes of shushing. It was almost midnight, and exhaustion was creeping into my mind again. With a look at the girl's now peaceful face, I finally let myself sleep. 

I woke up with a start, as my head was shaken around. As I came to my senses, I could hear the sound of sobbing. As I lifted my head from the bed it was resting on, the sobbing abruptly stopped and turned into light sniffling. I looked over to the girl to see her hunched over, hugging the bear in a similar grip to before I fell asleep. I looked at the digital clock next to the bed to see that it was six o'clock in the morning. I grabbed the remote next to to the bed and turned on the lights. As they turned on, I saw the girl flinch and a feeling of guilt hit my body.  
"Hey, there's no need to cry. Those men will never hurt you again." I somehow kept my voice smooth, and as I finished the sentence, the girl looked towards me hesitantly. She must of remembered my face, because as soon as she saw me, she straightened and loosened her grip on her bear. "See, it's okay now, you're safe." She stared at me for a second, before barrelling into me and began sobbing again. "Shh, it's okay, you're here now and those men can't hurt you, you're safe" I had experience with children, and had been in a similar situation before. I stroked her hair and slowly rubbed circles on her back, a wet patch forming on my shoulder. I heard the telltale click of a camera and I sighed inwardly. "Rita, I know this seems to be the perfect time for a photo, but could you go get Dr. Tayn please." I heard her mumble something between sure and ok, another camera click, and then the gentle opening and closing of the door. As this happened, the girl's sobs reverted back to sniffles and she moved back to a sitting position on the bed. "Hey, I'm Lennon, do you know where you are?" She responded with a shake of her head as she re-established her grip on the teddy bear.  
"Okay, you're currently in a hospital, could you tell me your name?" For some reason the girl looked confused. I could hear Rita and Doctor Tayn coming towards us in the hallway, but was preoccupied by the girl's lack of response. I was about to ask whether she remembered her name when I heard her soft voice.   
"M-Maria" I looked at her for a moment, and decided the name fit her. I heard the door open slightly, but not fully, and realised that Rita and Dr. Tayn were eavesdropping on our conversation.  
"Thank you Maria, do you know where your parents are?" This got a completely different reaction than before.   
"Aren't you my mummy?" I struggled to keep all the emotions in my system and managed to respond in a sad tone.  
"Sorry but, no, I'm not." I was struck by the most guilt I had ever felt as the girl's face fell and tears welled up in her eyes again. I heard hurried steps away from the door as the door was quietly shut. "It's okay, I'm sure we'll find your parents. Do you remember anything from before what those men did to you?" Some of the tears in her eyes fell as she moved back towards me. I gave her the best hug I could manage, as she told me about her going to the local market. After 5 minutes of listening, her crying had stopped, and she held a trembling smile on her face  
"That's where I found Gazlowe," she said, a happy tone to her voice, despite the tears. It was nice to see her happy about something, rather than the sad tones from before, the smile no longer quivering. "He's my best friend." The look of content on her face was beautiful, a polar opposite of the dreary look from before. I sat there for another five minutes, taking in every detail of her story, when the door opened again. Rita walked in with Dr. Tayn trailing behind her.   
"I see sleeping beauty's awake, how are you feeling hon?" even though Dr. Tayn used the sweetest voice I had heard from her, Maria still flinched away, gripping my hand a little harder.  
"Maria's fine at the moment, just catching up with what happened." I replied after seeing the nervousness on Maria's face. "She's extremely shy, but that isn't too surprising."  
"Given her situation, no, it isn't." Dr. Tayn said to me before returning her focus to Maria. "Maria sweetie, I heard some of the things you were talking about before. Do you really not know who you're parents are?" Maria shook her head with a confused look. Honestly I was just as confused as she was, where was Dr. Tayn taking this? "I also heard you say that you thought Lennon was your mother, is that true as well?" Maria gave a quick nod, glancing to me before looking at Dr. Tayn again. "Do you want her to be your mother?"  
"Yes!" Before I could register the shock from Maria's response, I felt Maria tackle my side in a tight hug.  
"Well, that settles that I guess," Dr. Tayn mumbled, before moving her attention to me. "I was going to contact child services in the morning to let them know about Maria's situation, but when I heard your talk from outside the door, I called the and recommended you as Maria's guardian, as nobody else was claiming to be her guardian and she needed an adult she could trust. Maria is likely to have night terrors from trauma, so being with a stranger really wouldn't help the situation." I was dazed, my face stuck between complete joy and surprise. "Because of the approval of the tutoring sessions you did a while back, the environment in your home was deemed suitable for children, so you don't need to have an inspection. All you have to do is set up a room for her and wait for her to heal." I felt warm tears run down my face, and returned Maria's hug tenfold, lightly laughing in joy. I guess this is the next step in my life, and I couldn't be happier about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam, sudden parenthood, strikes you when you least expect it.


	4. I'm pregnant! Wait, no...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for some fun/not so fun times for Lennon.

After five minutes of hugging, I broke out of the embrace. I looked down to see the biggest smile enveloping Maria's face, accompanied by a large yawn. With a soft smile on my face, I moved her back towards her pillow in order to let her sleep. After returning Gazlowe, along with a peck to the forehead, she was out like a light. As soon as she was sound asleep, I turned back to the doctor, only to see Rita barely holding in laughter.  
"Alright, share the joke, what's so funny?" My voice was a bit wobbly from my tears, but was still solid. My answer was Rita turning her phone towards me, a video playing.  
"I thought you might want to see your face, it went through so many changes at once I was sure you were going to have a meltdown." As the video replayed the news Dr. Tayn told me, I couldn't help but give a small giggle. The amount of faces I made was indeed funny. My laughter softened to a warm smile as I saw myself hug the now sleeping child.  
"It's a beautiful memory, thanks Rita." I gave her the best hug I could muster. She returned it with just as much strength.  
"Sorry to interrupt," we both turned to Dr. Tayn, still in the embrace. "But I need you to sign some paperwork Lennon, it will give you temporary guardianship until child services can organise the proper documents."   
"Oh, thank you," I detached myself from Rita and started to fill out the sheets. As I was doing so, I realised something very important. "Oh god, Rita,"  
"Hm? What?"   
"I'm a mum now" her response was quiet snickering."ohgodwhatamIgointodoIhaven'tplannedany thingwhatamIgo-" before I could continue my rambling Rita put her hand over my mouth.  
"We're going to be fine Lennon, we'll give her the best life she can have," her words calmed me some, but I was still breathing quite heavily.  
"Actually, could I make a suggestion?"  
"Sure, shoot." Rita replied, as I was still having a heart attack.  
"One of you should be with her during the day so you can get to know her better." I immediately thought about taking the next day off school, when Rita insisted she stay with Maria today.  
"What? But you need to run your shop, and I could easily-"  
"Nah, Tony can run my shop for the day. Today's the end of the school week, so you can chill with Maria on Saturday. I won't be able to because that's my shops busiest day of the week." As much as I hated to admit it, her reasoning was understandable. Begrudgingly, I agreed, before turning to get a look at the time.  
Seven fifty-three  
"Oh god how is it almost eight already?" I rushed out of the room with a shout, "Look after Maria, I'll be back at three!"  
I made a beeline to the car, fumbling with the keys for at least a minute before I managed to get the damned car moving. I made my way home quickly, the streets empty this early in the morning. I went through my morning routine in a rush, managing to shower, pack my bags for the day and eat breakfast in just fifteen minutes. I was back in the car with a way too strong coffee in my hands. 

As I stumbled into the staff room, I was given some quizzical looks, but was ignored until I made my way to Ms. Keltrei's classroom. As I entered, the older woman gave me a worried look.  
"Oh Lennon, what happened? You look like you went through hell and back."   
"You know what? I'm not going to correct you, that's basically what happened." I stated flopping onto my desk whilst simultaneously confusing/worrying Ms. Keltrei. I proceeded to tell her of my misadventure last night, getting various looks of horror and disgust. As I reached this morning in my story, her face changed to a warm smile as she enjoyed a cup of tea.  
"So, she's in the hospital with Rita at the moment, and this morning I became a mother." I said concluding my recount of the last twenty four hours, absolute glee filling my voice.  
"Oh my god Lennon, how sweet. She seems like a darling."  
"Thanks, it was a real shock," A smile graced my features as I thought back to this morning. We were both startled out of our thoughts when a gasp came from the front door of the room. We simultaneously turned towards the door to see Erika standing there. I forgot she was an early bird when it came to school. "Hey there Erika, didn't see you there," I said nonchalantly, not really caring if the students knew about Maria. The girl ran over to us, bouncing up and down when she reached the desk.  
"You're a mum now? What's their name? Are they a boy or a girl? Do you think they'll be my friend? How old are they? Where are they right now?" The girl started shooting off questions at light speed. I could only make out the last question  
"Please Erika, slow down a bit, I can barely understand you," the girl nodded, but looked at me expectantly. "To answer your last question, Maria is in the hospital at the moment." The girl gasped before blurting out an idea that wasn't half bad.  
"We should make her a get well soon card! Can we Ms. Keltrei, can we?"  
"That sounds like a lovely idea Erika, why don't you tell everyone who's here while Ms. Shauternbury and I finish setting up the room." Ms. Keltrei answered, cleverly getting the girl out of the room.  
"Okay!" The girl shot out of the room faster than a bullet, and we were left in a stunned silence. I moaned and let my head hit Ms. Keltrei's desk.  
"There goes me keeping it a secret until she's out of the hospital." I groaned, my muffled voice somehow still discernible. Ms. Keltrei giggled at my shenanigans before responding to my whining.  
"Oh don't say that, at least Maria will be getting that get well soon card earlier." Looking at the positives as usual I see. Although I guess it isn't too bad of a situa-. "Plus, now we don't have to come up with something for the free lesson today." Of course, there's always a second reason for everything.  
"I don't think I'm ready for the flock of third graders that's going to envelop me." I mustered whatever energy I had left and got myself as prepared as I could for the day ahead, occasionally glancing at the growing crowd of faces pressed against the windows of the classroom. I made my way to my desk and waited for the floodgates to open. As the bell rings, notifying everyone that the school day has started, Ms. Keltrei makes her way to the door. She turns to me and mouthes 'sorry' as she opens the door.  
"Hello cl-" she doesn't get to finish her sentence, as the swarm of children move past her and straight to me. I was immediately bombarded by questions before Ms. Keltrei clears her throat. The classroom abruptly went silent.  
"How many of you have completed the homework sheet?" All the third graders groan and don't move from my desk, finding their questioning more important than the homework. Before they're able to resume their interrogation, Ms. Keltrei becomes my saviour for a second time. "Anyone who isn't seated at their desk with a completed homework sheet will not be participating with the activity later today." That got them moving. The third graders were in their seats as quickly as they moved to my desk, some of them scribbling at the last questions on the homework sheet.   
"Thank you everyone, but Ms. Shauternbury will tell you about their daughter during the last period. So if I find you bothering her about it, it'll be a lunchtime detention." With her point made, Ms. Keltrei resumed the normal procedure for the morning. The roll is marked and the maths lesson started. 

After a particularly noisy maths lesson, accompanied by a long english lesson, I managed to retire to the main staff room without being pestered by the third graders. I manage to get the kettle boiling before I'm interrupted.  
"Lennon, what all this hullabaloo I'm hearing from the children about you being a mother now?" Figures that the principal is the first in the staff room and the first to get the news from the children.  
"Mr. Renfield, I didn't see you there." I reply immediately, getting a raised eyebrow as a response. "And the children aren't wrong, I'm technically a mum now." This gets his second eyebrow raised and a smile forms on his face.  
"Well then, congratulations Lennon. What's with the sudden choice?" Before I'm able to start recounting my experiences again, more members of staff come into the room and make themselves comfortable at the table as the tea is set out.  
"Lennon, is it true what I heard from Erika? Are you a parent now?" The question from Mrs. Palsey, one of the sixth grade teachers, gets all heads turned to me with various looks of curiosity and confusion.   
"Yes actually, the principal just asked me the same question," before they could start to congratulate me I pressed on, "I was about to explain the circumstances to him but everyone else began arriving so I waited."  
"Well, go on then woman, don't keep us waiting." Said Mrs. Palsey, pushing me forward.

As I recounted the events, all the teachers were horrified at the situation I found Maria in. One of them, Mr. Fletcher who was particularly queasy, even vomited. As I continued the story, they all shared the same sadness I felt when I learned of their lack of parents. As I ended the story, most of the teachers had smiles on their faces and proceeded to congratulate me. Two of the others were crying and Mr. Fletcher was still recovering from his vomiting session. The story took up nearly the entire lunch break, and five minutes after I finished the recount of events, the bell chimed. The teachers dispersed with various emotions going through them. I made my way back to the Ms. Keltrei's class room and prepared for the following science lesson.

I somehow managed to avoid the third graders during my duty at afternoon tea. It was quite hot, and I found myself sweating a little. I got out my phone to see some texts from Rita, including an adorable picture of Maria sleeping soundly that I immediately saved. Apparently, when Maria woke up, she started crying at your absence. However, Rita managed to diffuse the situation, using the unforgivable. Puns. As much as I loved Rita, she knew exactly how to push my buttons, and puns were one of those buttons. Sighing at the toorent of puns in the near future, I was shocked out of my thoughts when Erika's voice popped up next to me.  
"Is that Maria?" After fumbling with my phone for a bit, I managed to catch it and turned towards Erika.  
"Erika, sweetheart, please don't sneak up on people like that. You've done that twice today." She muttered a sorry as I answered her question. "And yes, that's Maria."  
"She's cute." You agreed with a nod, staring at the photo with a warm feeling in your heart. "She totally needs to get better quickly so I can be her friend." I laughed inwardly at Erika's greed.  
"She's very shy, so she won't want to meet anyone for a while," I saw her face fall, so I decided to end on a happier note. "You'll get to see her when she's old enough for school, how's that sound?" A smile immediately formed on Erika's face as she nodded enthusiastically. "Well, better head to class, the bells about to ring." As if beckoned, the bell rung, signifying the end of break. "Better hop to it, I'll see you back at the classroom." 

I walked back to the classroom, a little giddy at the thought of a class of third graders making a get well soon card for Maria. As I entered the classroom, I saw that Ms. Keltrei had already gotten out the art supplies and placed a chair at the front of the room for me. She had also placed a blank card on each of the students desks. I situated myself in the chair and waited for the arrival of the children. After a few minutes, all the chairs were filled with excited children trying to decide whether to stare at the art supplies. After a few moments I cleared my throat in order to silence the children.  
"As you all probably know by now, I have recently become a parent. My daughter, Maria is currently in the hospital, so we'll be making some get well soon cards for her." As I ended my sentence, the children started chatting amongst themselves, I cleared my throat again and continued. "She's six, so don't put anything inappropriate for a six year old on the cards." I gave the giggling class the look of motherly disapproval. "You'll each get to make one card, and I'll deliver them when I go visit her later today." In an excited frenzy, the children ran up to the supplies and began working on their cards.

Almost an hour later, I'm given a plastic bag with twenty-seven get well soon cards inside. The children leave the classroom, reluctantly for once, and head home. Ms. Keltrei insisted that I go visit my daughter straight away. With a quick thanks, I headed to my car and made my way to the hospital. As I entered Maria's room, the scene in front of me had me squealing like a little girl. Rita was asleep at Maria's bed, face first into a story book and her hand held in Maria's iron grip. Gazlowe had made his way into Maria's fractured arm and she was sleeping soundly. I couldn't resist taking a photo, and took a seat next to Maria, going through the cards to pass the time.

**Author's Note:**

> Man, that sucks doesn't it. I'll update this when I'm able to. Don't expect it too often, education is a literal hell.


End file.
